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J. E. BELL. I ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 30,1918.

1,820,827. Patented Nov. 4,1919.

JOHN E. BELL, 0F MOUNT HAMILTON, ONTARIO, CANADA.

ROTARY ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 41, 1919..

Application filed November 30, 1918. Serial No. 264,803.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JOHN E. BELL, of Mount Hamilton, in the county of Ventworth, in the Province of Ontario, Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Engines, of which the following is the specification.

My invention relates to improvements in rotary engines and the object of the invention is to devise an engine in which the steam is automatically cut oifwhereby the use of. a slide valve for controlling the admission of steam is dispensed with and in which also is provided means for easily and. quickly reversing the engine and it consists essentially of the following arrangen'rent and construction of 'parts as hereinafter more particularly explained.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of my engine.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation looking edgewise at the rotors with the casing in section.

Fig. i is a sectional plan view on line my, Fig

In the drawings like charactersof reference indicate corresponding parts in the various figures.

1 indicates a casing formed of two cylindrical portions 1 and 2 interconnected together by a peripheral orifice at 3. 4C indicates the main shaft extending through the lower cylindrical portion 1*. 5 indicates a rotor mounted upon the main shaft The rotor 5 is provided with segmental peripheral grooves 5 and 5, the groove 5* extending inwardly from one face of the rotor and the groove 5 from the opposite face. These grooves are slightly greater than a semicircle and overlap each other at their ends.

6 indicates a supplemental rotor provided with segmental enlargen'ients 6 and 6 fitting into the grooves 5" and 5 so as to contact with the bases of the grooves.

It will be understood that the major portion of the rotor 6 is in peripheral contact with the major portion of the rotor 5 and that the enlargements 6 and 6 alternately engage with the bases of the grooves 5 and 5 so as to have a rolling contact therewith.

7 indicates a steam supply pipe provided with branches 7* and 7, the branch 7 being adapted to feed steam into the groove 5" and the branch 7 into the groove 5. 8 indicates the supply valve for closing the steam pipe 7. Upon the opposite side of the casing portion 1 is located a steam supply pipe 9 having branches 9* and 9, the branch 9/ being adapted to feed steam into the groove 5 and the branch 9 into the groove 5. The pipe 9 is provided with a closing valve 10. 11 and 12 indicate exhaust orifices provided with closing valves 13 and 1t.

The rotor 6 is mounted upon a shaft 15 journaled in the sides of the casing portion 2". The shaft 15 is provided with a gear 16 meshing with the gear 17 mounted upon the driving shaft 4.

lVhen the valve 8 is opened and steam is supplied from the pipe 7 to the branches 7 and 7- steam is fed in the position of the engine shown in the drawing through the branch 7* in the groove 5", an expansion chamber being formed by the portion of the groove 5 extending between the shoulder 5 and the point of contact between the base of the groove 5 and the periphery of the enlargement 6 of the rotor 6. The peripheral portions of the rotors 5 and 6 at their point of contact form an abutment against which the expansion takes place to exert a leverage onthe shoulder 5 causing the rotor 5 to revolve, the rotors 5 and 6 revolving in unison by being connected together by the gears 16 and 17. This operation continues until groove 5* of the rotor 5 assumes the dotted position corresponding to the position of the groove 5 shown in Fig. 2 and as it approaches this position it cuts off the steam passing through the branch 7". Simultaneously the exhaust opening 12 is opened by the opposite end of the groove passing such opening. The steam then exhausts from the segmental expansion chamber formed by the groove 5 and simultaneously the end of the groove 5 comes opposite the end of the branch 7 so as to admit steam into the groove 5, the identical operation taking place during the other half of the revolution by the steam expanding in the groove. 5 between the end of the groove and the" peripheral point of contact formed between the base of the groove 5 and the enlargement 6. It will, of course, be understood that during this operation the valve 13 is'closed.

If it is desired to reverse the engine all that it is necessary to do is to close the valves 14 and 8 and open the valves 13 and 9. Steam is then fed into the grooves 5 and 5 at the opposite side of the points of contact between the rotors 5 and 6 whereby the expansion of the steam is exerted between such points of contact and the opposite ends of the grooves 5 and 5 thereby driving the rotor 5 in the opposite direction.

From this description it will be seen that I have devised a very simple form of rotary engine whereby the steam is automatically cut off by the revolving rotors without the employment of slide valves or any other means for controlling the steam.

What I claim as my invention is:

A rotary engine comprising a casing formed by two cylindrical portions having an interconnecting peripheral orifice, a cylindrical rotor revolving in each portion of the casing and in peripheral contact one with the other, one rotor having a peripheral groove at each side and set in opposite directions, the other rotor having a peripheral enlargement extending into the grooves,

the enlargements of the rotor being slightly 20 less than a. semicircle and the grooves .of the other rotor slightly greater than semicircle so as to form opposing shoulders at one end of the enlargements when the rotors are driven in one direction and at the opposite 25 end of the enlargements when the rotors are driven in the opposite direction forming intervening expansion chambers, and means for feeding steam into one or other of the 

